


Just One Look And I Hear A Bell Ring

by CaptainLeBubbles



Series: The Hallmarks of a Family (Hallmarks AU) [9]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Gen, minor injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:16:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23254564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLeBubbles/pseuds/CaptainLeBubbles
Summary: Sometimes it seems like it's impossible for Roman to get Tai to himself. Granted, his children often feel the same way.Or, the one where Roman puts a weapon in Ruby's hand and it goes about as well as expected.
Relationships: Roman Torchwick & Taiyang Xiao Long, Roman Torchwick & the Juniors, Ruby Rose & Roman Torchwick
Series: The Hallmarks of a Family (Hallmarks AU) [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1200967
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	Just One Look And I Hear A Bell Ring

**Author's Note:**

> You guys will be glad to know that I'm nearly done with my shorts! I have one left to write, plus one that I need to finish but I had to stop writing it because I was too stressed to write stressful things. I've also started writing volume three alongside the shorts, so hopefully I can get that going soon.
> 
> This is the first introduction of Mrs. Junior as a character! She is voiced by Caiti Ward, so keep that in mind while reading. (What do you mean voice actor jokes? This whole series is voice actor jokes.)

-/-

In a crowded house with busy lives and more children than adults, it’s not unreasonable to imagine that sometimes, quality one-on-one time will suffer. In the Xiao Long-Branwen house, Tai and Qrow worked hard to make sure that they spent individual time with each of the kids once in awhile, but sometimes this was hard to plan, and so the kids would sometimes take it upon themselves to arrange it.

Such as, for instance, when Ruby invited herself to come grocery shopping with Tai.

It was actually really nice! Ruby rode on the end of the cart, making suggestions for groceries that were either out of their budget or unhealthy beyond all reason- Tai didn’t mind unhealthy snacks on a certain level, but he’d rather his kids ate fruit than fruit-flavored gummies.

Still, it was fun, and as they were heading for checkout, Tai suggested driving over to Simple Wok for dinner before they went home.

“Won’t the groceries go bad?”

“We don’t have any frozens, and I can get a bag of ice to put in the cooler with the perishables. They won’t go bad in less than an hour while we eat.”

Since this would mean having her dad to herself just a little bit longer, Ruby was all for this, and said as much, earning her a fond hair ruffle.

Simple Wok was usually empty no matter what time they went by, but today there was another patron at the counter: Torchwick, in fact. He glanced up as Tai and Ruby came in; his face lit up when he saw Tai, and fell a little when he spotted Ruby. He swapped back into a sunny smile almost immediately though.

“Hello, Tai. Little red.” He patted the seat next to him. “I only just ordered, come join me.”

Ruby took the invitation before Tai could respond, scrambling up onto the seat right beside Torchwick, so that the only seat Tai could take was her other side. She gave him a smug smile, then clambered up to kneel on her seat so she could see the menu behind the counter properly.

“Still haven’t managed that growth spurt, huh red?” Roman asked, just as Shopkeep brought his ramen over. 

“No, but that’s all right. I’m still little enough that Dad and Uncle James can pick me up whenever I want, so being small has its perks.” She considered. “But I bet even if I was as big as Dad Mr. Hazel could pick me up still.”

“Mr. Hazel?” Roman asked, raising an eyebrow at Tai over Ruby’s head.

“Mercury’s new guardian,” Tai explained. “He’s… big.”

“He’s big enough to have his own zip code,” Ruby clarified. “Even Mr. Junior would look small beside him.”

“She’s not exaggerating,” Tai clarified. “He really is that big.”

“Sounds hot.”

There was a pause while Ruby and Tai put in their orders, and barely a minute later their bowls spun into place. Ruby grabbed her chopsticks and dug in, and only as she was working on her first bite did she realize Torchwick had waited until they got their food to start on his.

She stared into her bowl, considering this, and said, “Mr. Torchwick? Will you show me some more fighting stuff like before? When we’re done eating, I mean.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“I’ve been practicing the other stuff you taught me,” she went on, taking this as a hard yes. “Dad helped me. He used to box in college.”

Roman whimpered into his noodles; Tai either didn’t notice or ignored it, and said, “Only a little bit, as a hobby. It was just something to blow off steam and keep in shape. I wasn’t that _good.”_

“Good enough to help little red learn, though.”

“I’m an expert now!”

“Actually, she’s still kind of terrible. I can’t get the anime out of her head long enough to teach her for the real world.”

“I had the same problem. All right, all right, I’ll show you a little something else.”

“Yay!” 

She bounced in her seat before returning to her food, swinging her feet and humming happily while she slurped at her noodles. Tai and Roman exchanged a look over her head, completely unnoticed, and Tai turned back to his noodles with a private smile.

-/-

Ruby finished her food quickly in anticipation, but Tai and Roman took their time, much to her dismay. Eventually, though, Roman pushed his mostly-empty bowl aside and stood, gesturing for Ruby to join him in the space between counter and door.

“All right, show me what you’ve been working on. Give me a starting stance.”

She obediently dropped into position. He hmmed thoughtfully and circled her, adjusting her stance slightly with his cane before making a satisfied noise.

“You’ve got that part right, at least.” And proceeded to knock her feet out from under her with a sweep of his cane. “But your balance is still garbage. All right, all right, don’t give me the eyes. You just need to keep practicing. In the meantime though—“

He glanced over at Tai, just to ensure he hadn’t crossed any lines, and reached down to set Ruby back on her feet. He held out his cane in offering.

“Let’s see how you do with a weapon in your hand. Go on, I’m curious.”

She took it, hesitantly, and then made a startled noise at how much weightier it was than expected.

“Why is it so heavy?”

“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, it’s well-balanced, so see if you can give me a good whack with it.”

“I don’t wanna hurt you!”

“Trust me, you won’t,” he said, and then gave a yell as, without warning, she spun the cane to a batter’s position and swung, connecting hard with his knee. His leg crumpled under him and he dropped into a kneeling position.

“Mr. Torchwick?” Ruby hurried close, clutching his cane tight as she peered at him. “Are you okay? You said I wouldn't hurt you!”

“Jesus _fuck,”_ he strangled out. “Right in the bad knee, too. Shit.”

Tai had moved quickly when he saw Roman go down; he was kneeling in front of him by the end of his sentence. “Hey, easy buddy. Can you stand? I’ll help you back to your seat.”

Roman nodded, too winded to say anything more, and leaned heavily on Tai for the few steps back to his seat. Tai helped him prop his leg up; a bag of ice appeared at his elbow just as soon as he’d sat down.

“Bless you, Shopkeep,” Roman said, slipping off his jacket and wrapping the ice pack with practiced ease before laying it over his knee. Ruby shuffled up to his side.

“I’m _really_ sorry,” she said, handing his cane back warily. “I thought you’d do some cool dodge or something.”

He shot her a pained glower and took his cane back, laying it over his lap and taking a few breaths before speaking. “It’s fine. I’ve been hit worse.”

“What? When?!”

“When I messed my knee up the first time, for one.” At her expectant look, he shook his head. “Nothing doing, your dad wouldn’t want you to know that story. Don’t worry about it.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a few more deep breaths before going on. “Look, you’re so garbage with fisticuffs I thought you’d be no better with a weapon, okay? I gambled and lost. It’s my own damn fault and I’ll be fine. I’ve survived way worse than _anything_ you can throw at me. I just need to ride out the pain. It’s fine.”

“But I hurt you.”

“You did exactly what I told you to. Ruby, look at me.” She gave a little gasp and complied, expression still swimming in guilt. “It’s _fine.”_

“How are you getting home?” Tai asked, putting a hand on Ruby's shoulder to still her guilt a bit. “Do you need a ride?”

“I’ll call Junior to come pick me up, no worries. He’ll need to bring someone to get my bike home anyway.”

“All right… if you’re sure…”

-/-

Tai insisted on staying until Junior arrived, so the next twenty minutes were spent with Ruby trying (to no avail) to coax Torchwick into telling her how he’d mangled his knee. By the time the door opened and Junior came in— accompanied by a plump blonde woman in a fedora Ruby knew must be Mrs. Junior— Torchwick was ready to hobble home himself, pain be damned.

“Oh good, you’ve come to save me from this gremlin,” he said, pulling himself to his feet with a hiss and hobbling over to join them. Mrs. Junior caught him by the shoulders as he neared, helping him shift around so he could lean on her shoulder. He passed his cane to Junior so his hand would be free to support himself on her fully. “Just get me out of here before she talks my ears off.”

“No dice, Little Bear,” she said. “You can be a little patient while we thank your friends for looking after you for us.”

Roman groaned and buried his face in her shoulder at the same time Ruby buried a snicker in her hands. “Little Bear?” she asked.

“And you must be Ruby,” Mrs. Junior said, holding out her free hand. “I’ve heard loads about you.”

“Really?” Her eyes lit up as she took the offered hand; Roman glowered at her again.

“I’ve told her all about what a pain you are. Can we please go now? I would like to just go home and take some painkillers and then sleep for twelve hours.”

“All right, all right.” She tipped her hat politely to Ruby and Tai, and the pair turned to go. She added, “By the way, you’re coming home with us tonight. I don’t want you trying to manage those stairs at your place.”

“What about—“

“Already texted.”

“Good,” he said, and then the two had disappeared out the door. Junior turned his attention to Tai and Ruby.

“Thanks for staying with him,” he said. “The only reason he bothered calling a ride at all was because he had an audience.”

“I sort of figured,” Tai admitted. He glanced at Ruby, then nodded pointedly toward the door. He and Junior stepped away, and he lowered his voice to say, “Listen, he _is_ going to be okay, right? He’s not just putting on a brave face?”

“I wouldn’t worry. Normally he’d try, but Mallory’s good at making him behave. She’ll make sure he stays off his feet until he’s recovered.”

“All right, good. Thanks.” He turned and held out a hand to Ruby; she took it and they headed out. “Come on, sweetie, it’s time we headed home too. Everyone is probably wondering where we are.”

“And I can tell everyone about our adventure tonight,” Ruby chirped. “And how I got to meet Mrs. Junior and how she calls Mr. Torchwick Little Bear.”

Tai laughed. “He’s right, you are a little gremlin.”

“But I’m _your_ gremlin, right?”

“Yes, sweetie. You’re _my_ gremlin. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

-/-

**Author's Note:**

> Torchwick actually has shorts with each of Tai's kids, so we get two more of these accidental bonding scenes. Fun times!
> 
> Regarding Mrs. Junior (aka Mallory Malachite): I created her _long_ before Little Miss Malachite was introduced in Volume Six (I have been planning volume three for _awhile_ ), let alone established as the twins' mother, and unfortunately my plans for her part of Roman's story mean that I can't simply overwrite her with Little Miss. Therefore, in the Hallmarks universe, I have compromised by keeping her as the Malachites' mother/Junior's wife as planned, and added Little Miss to the family by making her Mallory's older sister. Her literary allusions are Mother Bear and Juliet Capulet, though her version of the story ends with a lot less murder and mutual teen suicide thanks to Little Miss. (This is all so complicated for a character who had like five lines of the short, but it's the first time she's on screen so I wanted to go ahead and elaborate.)


End file.
